Choctaw's Hoffstatter, Nicholson share Daily News Soccer POY honors

FORT WALTON BEACH – Shane Nicholson admits a case could have been made for any one of his Choctaw teammates.

SETH STRINGER | Daily News

FORT WALTON BEACH – Shane Nicholson admits a case could have been made for any one of his Choctaw teammates.

“I was thinking a duo like Brandon (Castelin) and Luke (Hambleton), maybe,” the 6-foot-5 junior forward said of the Daily News Soccer Player of the Year possibilities.

But deep down, he knew there was one clear-cut choice: Sean Hoffstatter.

“Me and Sean figured he would win with all the goals he scored,” Nicholson said of his teammate, who scored 28 goals for the 3A state runner-up Indians.

He was half right.

Just hours before boarding a plane for England alongside Hoffstatter for a 10-day training session at the Manchester United training grounds earlier in March, Nicholson got a welcomed surprise.

His best bud Sean had indeed won the award, and so had he.

“I thought there was a chance I would get it with him,” he said, “but I didn’t know if I had done enough.”

His 20 goals and 30-plus assists – the latter a team-best – were easily enough to garner top billing alongside Hoffstatter, who was thrilled to see his friend share the spotlight.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Hoffstatter, a junior who also dished out 15 assists. “It’s just amazing to play with Shane. We’re like brothers out there.”

But looks-wise, brothers would be a leap of faith.

Nicholson is a giant on the pitch with his lengthy 6-5, 185-pound frame. Hoffstatter is more compact and toned, standing at 6-1, 178 pounds.

Nicholson also has blond hair with that that Beatles mop-top, bed-head look going for him. Hoffstatter, meanwhile, has brown hair that’s always neatly in place.

The differences don’t stop there in their games.

For Hoffstatter, his scoring touch looks effortless. Using his second-level speed and his ability to keep the ball on a string, junior can take over games at a moment’s notice. That was the case in the Region 1-3A championship, when he put the team on his back with two goals between the 74th and 77th minutes to lift the Indians to a 2-1 victory over defending champion Ponte Vedra.

“Sean’s always had that ability,” Choctaw coach Chris McDaniel said. “When he really pits his mind to taking over, it’s hard to get in his way.”

Hoffstatter would nod his head to that assessment, noting that he needs to carry that sense of urgency for a full 80 minutes of play.

“That’s a bad habit for me, not playing all out the full 80 minutes and turning it on at different times,” he said. “Sometimes I need to be more selfish and just play the way I know how.”

Nicholson, meanwhile, lacks no motivation. The upbeat junior’s success stems from that all-out hustle, and that includes getting physical and fighting for every ball. That was the case in the district finale game-winner against Gulf Breeze, which was helpless in watching Nicholson collect an overtime throw-in from Hoffstatter and find the back of the net for the golden goal that secured the Indians’ fourth district title and home-field advantage in the state playoffs.

The toughness had a lot to do with Nicholson packing on 20 pounds in the offseason.

“I think I grew into my body,” Nicholson said of the new-found confidence. “I felt more coordinated on the ball. I felt I could take more people on.”

And in the open field there was no better facilitator or table-setter in the area. The same could be set for his ability to thread the needle on set pieces, a responsibility entrusted to Nicholson by McDaniel.

“Even if somebody said they wanted to take it, coach McDaniel really wasn’t going to let anybody but me take it,” Nicholson said. “I was pretty much made to. Coach McDaniel trusted me.”

It’s the same trust Nicholson had in Hoffstatter, and vice versa.

“It’s kind of an unspoken bond, like we don’t have to say anything to each other,” Nicholson said. “We just know what the other will do.”

That chemistry was a driving force in the Indians’ third Final Four appearance in four years.

“When those two were on fire with our back line going strong, we were hard to beat,” McDaniel said.

And the duo are a major reason why the Indians will be frontrunners to make another postseason run next year.

“We just want to go all out and win a state title,” said Hoffstatter, who is already getting looks from Division 1 programs. “As seniors we want to go out with a bang.”

Added Nicholson, who is getting looks from UWF and smaller schools but has his sights set on playing Division 1 soccer, “That’s the No. 1 goal. We’re going for that state championship.”